This program provides students with the knowledge, motivation, and self-learning skills required for continuous professional development along with complex project experience and problem solving. Our goal is that these students use their potential to become future leaders and champions of nano health. Students will have the option of having a primary or dual program focus. A dual focus would have an additional emphasis on Medical Physics.

Rice University has established a unique interdisciplinary program in Nanophotonics aimed at providing science and engineering students with the educational and research training to develop new tools for generating, controlling and manipulating light at nanoscale dimensions.

This program prepares students for a career in nanoscience by combining a strong component in quantum theory, which governs the behavior of systems at the nanoscale, with the study of practical nano- and mesoscale devices. This provides the student with the knowledge required to successfully navigate the emerging field of nanoscale science and nanotechnology. Unlike traditional master's degrees, this degree combines an interdisciplinary curriculum with business training and hands-on experience via a three to six month internship giving graduates a new 'tool-set' for success in a business environment.

The worlds of science and business are merging and a new breed of scientist, manager and policy maker is emerging. These new professionals are PSM graduates who can serve companies in today's competitive market needing managers with scientific knowledge who understand the business world and can effectively lead by applying their unique background to their organization's needs. In response to these needs, the Wiess School of Natural Sciences established the Professional Master?s Program, offering a degree in Nanoscale Physics.

This four year program combines majors in nanotechnology and either physics or chemistry and encompasses physical, chemical, biological and engineering nanoscience and nanotechnology. This double degree provides a strong grounding in nanotechnology, the science and engineering of materials less than a micrometer in size across the disciplines of physics and chemistry with substantial biology and engineering components.

The main aim of the Master's Degree is to provide students with solid, interdisciplinary training that will make it possible to respond to the challenges of scientific and technological development. Students will learn about new tools for fabricating, nanohandling and characterizing materials, devices and systems of nanometric size that are necessary for undertaking experimental work.